There are many situations and condition under which an article, such as a rear view mirror, prism, or the like, must be positionable with accuracy by remote control. This positioning must be done easily and reliably in order to be fully acceptable. In the context of a motor vehicle, for example, unobstructed rear view vision is important. Interiorly located rear view mirrors are close at hand, and can thus be re-adjusted whenever required. Exteriorly located mirrors are another matter. A continuing problem which has existed in this art is the inadequacy of mechanisms used currently in connection with both mounting and adjusting of exterior rear view mirrors. Perhaps the most common practice has been to adjust exterior, rear view mirrors manually. Manual adjustment can be made required by the driver of a vehicle for that exterior rear view mirror closest to the driver. Such mirrors mounted on the passenger side of the vehicle, however, have seldom been adjusted to take into consideration the particular and differing requirements of various drivers using that vehicle. Thus, the exterior rear view mirror on the passenger side normally was not used to its maximum efficiency.
Some previous attempts have been made at providing arrangements by which exterior rear view mirrors could be adjusted remotely, i.e, from within the vehicle. Although such arrangements enabled some adjustment of the mirror without requiring the window of the vehicle to be opened, they have met with very limited success. The lack of success has partly been due to the relatively high cost of purchasing and/or installation of such mirrors, This high cost often arose from the labour component of the total costs involved in the manufacture and assembly of such prior art structures.
Other drawbacks with prior art arrangements have included mechanical failure due to metal fatigue after a period of time, and/or a certain number of adjustment motions. Excessively rapid wear of certain moving parts has also been a problem, usually being manifest in excessive looseness of the mirror and therefore an inability to maintain the mirror in a selected orientation.